WORLD SERIES GAME 1: SNOWED UNDER EX-ANGEL HAS KEY HR AS S.F. WINS SAN FRAN. 4, ANGELS 3.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - There's more to the San Francisco Giants than Barry Bonds after all.

Bonds was the center of attention all week as the Angels and Giants prepared for the World Series, and rightly so. But many Angels warned although the Giants' journey here was powered by Bonds, there were others that steered them to the National League pennant.

Bonds did his usual number with a home run in his first at-bat, but it was Reggie Sanders and J.T. Snow who made the difference in the Giants' 4-3 victory in Game 1 in front of 44,603 at Edison Field.

``Every day we have a couple guys in the lineup that seem to match up with whoever they put on the mound to face us,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. ``It's been a team effort. We've had a number of guys come through up and down our lineup. Like J.T. says, the sign of a good team is when you really don't know who's going to hurt you from day to day.''

Sanders hit a solo homer in the second inning shortly after Bonds hit his to put the Giants in front 2-0. But just as big was Sanders' two-out single in the sixth. Snow followed with a two-run homer to give the Giants a 4-1 lead that was enough on a night the Angels' offense failed to come up with the big hit.

``I said all along there are other guys on that team that got 'em here,'' said Angels starter Jarrod Washburn, who yielded all three Giants homers. ``Barry's big, but he's not all of it.''

The Angels outhit the Giants 9-6 but failed to come up with the clutch hit. Troy Glaus hit two home runs off Giants starter Jason Schmidt, but the Angels went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Twice the Angels had a runner on third base with one out and failed to get him home. Darin Erstad struck out with Adam Kennedy on third in the third inning.

In the fifth, the Angels had runners on first and third with one out when Tim Salmon hit a foul popup near the first-base dugout. Snow slipped on the rubberized warning track and landed flat on his back, but he got up in time to make the catch and the Angels didn't score in the inning.

``I don't think I've ever made a play like that, where I fell down and got back up,'' said Snow, who was traded by the Angels to the Giants after the 1996 season. ``It was a good thing I fell on my backside because I was able to keep looking at the ball. I called it the whole way, and kept calling it when I was laying down. Luckily, the net was there. I grabbed onto the net and pulled myself up.''

The Angels credited Schmidt for making good pitches in key situations, but that doesn't mean they were happy about it.

``We had two situations with runners on third base and didn't get the job done,'' Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. ``I know those two guys (Erstad and Salmon) who had the opportunities are not very happy about it right now. They're going to come out (today) and be pissed off. You better watch out.''

Schmidt got the victory after going 5 2/3 innings and giving up all three Angels runs and all nine of their hits. Felix Rodriguez, Tim Worrell and Robb Nen (save) combined to hold the Angels hitless in the final 3 1/3 innings.

Bonds, though, got it all started. In his first career World Series at-bat, he hit a 2-1 pitch from Washburn over the fence in right field, bringing a groan from the crowd and a smile from Washburn.

``What are you going to do?'' said Washburn, who gave up four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. ``I made a mistake and he hit a home run. I had to chuckle. I said to myself, `Yeah, he is good.' ''

The loss was the Angels' first at home in the postseason, as they fell to 5-1 at Edison Field. But a loss in Game 1 is nothing new. They lost the openers in the series against both the Yankees and Twins.

``I'm not going to say we have them right where we want them, but we've been here before,'' Angels designated hitter Brad Fullmer said. ``So we're not going to panic. We're not overly concerned. Certainly you don't want to lose the first game, but we've shown we can bounce back.''

The home runs by Bonds and Sanders gave the Giants a 2-0 lead, but Glaus cut it to 2-1 with his first home run of the game in the bottom of the second. The Angels, however, missed numerous opportunities to tie or go ahead.

Later in the second inning, Fullmer singled and stole second, but was stranded. Kennedy led off the bottom of the third with a double and went to third on David Eckstein's groundout to second. But Kennedy was stuck at third as Erstad struck out and Salmon flied out.

In the fourth, Garret Anderson singled to lead off the inning and two outs later went to third on a double by Scott Spiezio. But the inning ended when Bengie Molina grounded out.

In the fifth, Eckstein singled and went to third on Erstad's single with one out. But Salmon fouled out to the first baseman Snow and Anderson struck out.

The Giants added to their lead and knocked Washburn out of the game all at the same time in the sixth. Washburn got the first two outs of the inning before giving up a single to Sanders and a two-run homer to Snow on a 3-1 pitch that gave the Giants a 4-1 lead.

Glaus hit his second homer of the night leading off the bottom of the sixth and Fullmer followed with a walk. Two outs later, Fullmer was on second when Kennedy got the Angels' first hit of the night with a runner in scoring position, driving in Fullmer with a single to right to cut the Giants lead to 4-3.

``We saw some positive things tonight, it's just the score wasn't where we want it to be,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. ``If we play with that aggressiveness offensively, I think our offense will be where we want it to be.''

TODAY'S GAME 2 --San Francisco (Ortiz 14-10) at Angels (Appier 14-12) 5:04 p.m., Ch. 11, 570-AM, 1110-AM

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Giants first baseman J.T. Snow hits a two-run homer in the sixth inning as Angels catcher Bengie Molina and home-plate umpire Jerry Crawford look on.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

Box:

GIANTS 4, ANGELS 3